1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a motor vehicle door lock with a spring-elastically deflectable coupling mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional motor vehicle door lock is disclosed in German Patent Publication DE 43 13 248 A1, which includes lock mechanisms such as a lock latch, a detent pawl which blocks the lock latch in a closed position, and a lock mechanism having a plurality of mechanisms which interact with one another and which optionally actuate the lock mechanisms. The lock mechanism also includes an inside actuation lever which returns to its rest position under spring force and which can be actuated against spring force, and an inside safety lever coupled to the inside actuating lever such that actuation of the inside actuating lever with the inside safety lever in the safety position first releases the inside safety lever and afterwards lifts the detent pawl to release the lock latch.
With the inside safety lever in the safety position, the inside actuating lever is decoupled from the detent pawl. The inside actuating lever with the inside safety lever still in the safety position executes an idle stroke and moves only the inside safety lever into the released position. After release of the inside actuating lever and return of the inside actuating lever into its neutral position, the inside actuating lever is coupled to the detent pawl by means of a coupling element which engages under spring force. When the inside actuating lever is actuated again, the detent pawl is then lifted. The coupling element which effects the coupling of the inside actuating lever to the detent pawl actuator is a coupling rod which is pre-tensioned in the direction of the coupled position by spring force, but can be deflected against the spring force. The spring force is produced by a separate return spring which engages the end of the coupling rod.
Such a device has is disadvantageous since the released position is essentially stored after the inside actuating lever is actuated the first time by the coupling element reaching the storage position from which it then reaches the coupled position when the inside actuating lever is released under the action of spring force. The above explained construction results in inadvertent opening of the motor vehicle door being reliably prevented. This is called the xe2x80x9cdouble stroke function.xe2x80x9d In the above explained motor vehicle door lock which forms the point of departure for the teaching, another problem of operating engineering is solved in the same way. What results specifically is that the motor vehicle door lock can also be released from the inside when at the same time opening actuation is taking place from the outside, therefore, the outside actuating lever has been pulled. What results is that release becomes possible because the released position is stored mechanically under a spring force. After the outside door handle is released again and thus the outside actuating lever is released, the corresponding coupling element under the spring force of a likewise separate spring mechanism reaches the coupled-in position from which the door is easily opened with repeated pulling on the outside door handle. This is called the xe2x80x9ccomfort functionxe2x80x9d.
In addition, on the rear side doors and on the rear doors in some station wagons there is generally a child safety. There are child safeties in various embodiments, either mechanically actuated, or also recently actuated by motor (electric motor). Recently implementing child safety devices have been provided such that the child safety actuation can only ever be actuated in the same direction against a reset spring force on the child safety lever (German Patent Publication DE 195 12 573 A1) has also become known. In this purely mechanical child safety therefore by each actuation of the child safety in the same direction the location of the child safety lever changes to the position which is the other one at the time. This two-way catching is a convenient and easy actuation possibility.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages in the prior art to provide a motor vehicle door lock having a spring-loaded storage position of the coupling mechanism, whereby the storage position precedes the coupled position.
These and other objects are achieved in a motor vehicle door lock with a spring mechanism which is an integral component of the coupling element especially in that the spring mechanism is made in the form of a spring-elastic section of the coupling mechanism. The coupling element can also be made as a spring-elastic mechanism so that it transfers force between the actuation mechanism and trigger mechanism, especially the detent pawl actuator, but also inherently executes the spring-elastic function. This saves an additional movable support of the coupling mechanism, an additional spring and the installation costs for installation of these components. The teaching of the present invention can be implemented for the xe2x80x9cdouble stroke functionxe2x80x9d and also for the xe2x80x9ccomfort functionxe2x80x9d explained above.
In accordance with the present invention, it is provided that the actuation mechanism is an inside actuating lever which can be actuated by the inside door handle, the trigger mechanism is a detent pawl actuator and the displacement mechanism is a child safety lever which can be actuated by a child safety actuator and/or especially by a motorized child safety drive. In particular, in a motorized child safety drive the teaching of the present invention yields a special advantage in terms of control engineering. Specifically, the child safety can be actuated at any time without having to consider the respective position of the inside actuating lever. An additional control which allows the drive motor to be started for the motorized child safety only when the inside actuating lever has reached its base position is associated with cost in terms of control engineering, but, in addition, would also require interrogation of the position of the inside actuating lever, for example, via a microswitch. The latter is, however, expensive and can be avoided with the teaching of the present invention.
In the following, the present invention is explained in detail using drawings which show a single embodiment.